Catholic Advocate to Expand Readership in the New Millennium Effective January 5, 2000, the Catholic Advocate, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Newark, will become the largest weekly newspaper in the state of New Jersey. Readership and distribution will increase from over 25,000 to 130,000 homes, an estimated 300,000 readers throughout the Archdiocese. A subscription for the Advocate will be given to any Catholic in the Archdiocese who contributes annually to the Archdiocesan Stewardship program. Robert Dylak, publisher of the Advocate, said, "The Archdiocese is entering the new millennium with a major commitment to helping keep its people informed and to promote their growth in understanding their Catholic Faith." "This kind of circulation is a whole new idea in the Catholic press," he added, "And we expect it will have an impact on cultural, legislative and other nonsectarian areas of life. The entire effort reflects a major commitment on the part of Archbishop McCarrick to build up and better inform the family of faith in this Archdiocese." A new layout and design also will nearly double the paper to a 36-page issue, and this is expected to increased gradually to 48 and 60 pages, as more advertisers sign on. Articles in the Advocate will become even more family oriented, while continuing to reflect the diversity of the Archdiocese of Newark, Dylak said. The Advocate's Board of Trustees is looking to even further expand the paper's circulation, and eventually bring every registered parishioner to the paper as a subscriber. The paper will be delivered to Catholic readers- a readership with slightly higher incomes and an above average education. The 1.5 million Catholics in the Archdiocese make up almost half of the population in the counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union. "Our subscribers are truly good and responsible people. A lot of publications make that claim but we can prove it- our readers are church-going, family people with roots in their communities," stated Dylak.
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